The Philadelphia Eagles are living the dream, having won their second Super Bowl in the last eight seasons. However, the NFL may try eliminating one of their most famous plays, the “tush push.”
The play involves quarterback Jalen Hurts lining up under center while the running back and tight end line up in the backfield, pushing Hurts forward to try and reach across the distance to gain. The “tush push” is a controversial subject among many NFL teams, and few organizations are pushing for the play to be banned.
NFL teams are unhappy with the “tush push.” One primary concern is that it can cause serious injury. The players line up on top of each other on both sides of the ball, and 300-pound linemen try everything possible to push their way across to get the ball carrier over the line to gain.
The “Tush Push” Could Go Away
Teams are concerned about “tush push” in the league because of injury risks, but they also have a hard time stopping the play, and if the NFL could eliminate it, teams would think they would have a fair advantage.
On Monday, the first day of the NFL Scouting Combine, a team proposed banning the “tush push.” Green Bay Packers general manager Brian Gutekunst confirmed that his organization had submitted the proposal.
The Eagles are the team that made the “tush push” famous, although other NFL teams, including the Buffalo Bills, also run it. The Bills should love running the “tush push” because they have a 6-foot-5 quarterback in Josh Allen, who needs a little help to reach the line to gain.
Buffalo ran the “tush push” 37 times in 2024, achieving a success rate of 78.4%; however, head coach Sean McDermott isn’t a major fan. During the first day at the combine, McDermott told ESPN that he favored banning the play.
McDermott Wants the âTush Pushâ Gone
“To me, there’s always been an injury risk with that play, and I’ve expressed that opinion for the last couple of years or so when it really started to come into play the way it’s being used, especially a year ago,” said McDermott, “So, I just feel like player safety and the health and safety of our players has to be at the top of our game, which it is. It’s just that play to me has always been … or the way that the techniques that are used with that play, to me, have been potentially contrary to the health and safety of the players. And so again, you have to go back though in fairness to the injury data on the play, but I just think the optics of it, I’m not in love with.”
The 50-year-old head coach is a member of the NFL competition committee and could pressure other NFL franchises to vote on banning the “tush push.” Other owners have to ask themselves: If a coach who ran the “tush push” at a high success rate wants the play out of the league, why should anyone favor it?
McDermott Is Hurting the Bills
McDermott is hurting his team by trying to ban the play. The Bills don’t need the “tush push” to be elite, but being able to pull it out on fourth and late to put a game on ice is great. The Bills attempted the “tush push” four times in the AFC title game against Kansas City this past January and went 0-for-4, so it’s not automatic.
The NFL should always favor reducing as many significant injuries as possible. However, at some point, eliminating everything that causes an injury concern has to stop. New technology is a great way to prevent injuries, such as the NFL letting players wear guardian caps over their helmets in games to avoid concussions, but banning a specific play isn’t the right approach.
If teams had a better success rate in stopping the “tush push,” no one in the league would suggest banning it. When one team gets an edge in the NFL, other teams look to try to put an end to it.
Banning the “tush push” would encourage teams to create another play that could be just as effective, and in three years, conversations around the NFL would be about how to ban that specific play.
The Bills need to be able to use the “tush push,” Hopefully, the league will vote against any ban because that could be the play that helps clinch their first Super Bowl in franchise history next February.
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This article was originally published on Heavy Sports
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